April 23, 2018
Since 2002, the National Archery in the Schools Program has enjoyed tremendous growth with over 18 million students participating in the popular in-school program. In that time, NASP® has continued to enjoy an unblemished safety record due to quality instructor training, and the dedicated individuals operating in approximately 14,000 schools across 47 states and eleven other countries.
The list of positive attributes for students in grades 4-12 is likely THE major reason why NASP® continues to grow at about 1,000 new schools per year. NASP® is safe and fun! With so much positive feedback coming in, it is easy to understand why those that endorse and support the program are proud of its continued success.
Of all aspects of NASP®, safety occupies the paramount position in all that we do. The task of instructing students in how to shoot the bow and arrow in a school or other gymnasium requires extreme dedication and adherence to specific and strict safety protocol. This proven protocol continues to keep NASP® students safe and enjoying their introduction to the sport of archery.
NASP® leadership believes that any time archery equipment is promoted and used in an unsafe manner; all of archery receives a negative perception from the public. Therefore, it is very important to NASP® and all of the millions of people that support it, to know that NASP® continues to takes a stand against any unsafe use of archery equipment.
NASP® leadership believes that any instance where bows and arrows are intentionally aimed at another person, or aimed at any resemblance of the human form, represents an extremely unwise and dangerous situation. NASP® desires to take a strong stance against any occurrence where bows and arrows are used in any form of “tag” or similar simulation of aiming archery equipment at a human form. We consider this activity to be extremely dangerous and believe that it should be prohibited.
NASP® understands that there will be those who defend this type of archery. However, we believe that once individual students participate in an activity of this type, they may go home and try to simulate a similar activity using only what archery equipment is on hand, which could and has already led to serious injury or death.
NASP® is extremely proud of our successful safety record. We look forward to continuing to provide a safe introduction to the sport of archery. We will continue to follow our proven safety protocols and rely on the wisdom and dependability of thousands of Basic Archery Instructors across the globe that help NASP® change lives one arrow at a time.